A Memory Left Behind
by Twilight Cherry
Summary: SEQUEL to A Visit and Confessions. Lelouch left something for Suzaku 7 years later. LuluXSuzaku. ONE SHOT.


**I was really happy because although my story was just a one-shot, I saw a few people put in on story alert. So, in order to thank you guys who favorite and reviewed, I decided to write a sequel just for a change of pace while writing my other stories.**

**Oh, and here's a little guidance. When the 'he' is in Italic, I'm referring to Lulu.**

**A Memory Left Behind**

The moon was glowing eerily in the dark sky when he came out from the underground tomb. An owl was hooting solemnly. He was not surprised at all, for he had sat curled up beside the glass encasement containing his beloved's perfect body, crying until 7 years worth of tears had poured out from his emerald eyes. In result, they were puffy and tinted with a light red color. He would have been more than glad to sit by his emperor for an eternity but the promise he made would not allow it. He had to go back to protect and watch over the current ruler of the country, Empress Nunnally vi Britannia.

Watching the marble headstone slid back into place, his heart clenched painfully. The thought of being separated from his best friend, his lover, was unbearable. He had to pant for air through that black mask obscuring his face. Gripping the top of the white stone for support, he held on tightly until he was steady on his feet once again. He traced the word engraved on the tombstone before turning reluctantly away from that spot.

'_Goodbye, Lelouch… For now…_'He said silently in his mind. He made his way through the dark cemetery, a final drop of tear squeezing out from his already dried eyes. His mind was still heavily laden with the incident that had occurred in the dark room as he made his way out of the land of burial.

"Hey, you!" A call jerked his mind and all his senses into place. He froze in motion. Didn't he order that no one was to approach this cemetery today? Anyway, who would have visited such a place this time of the night? Most importantly, where was this voice coming from? He looked around cautiously but caught no sight of life around.

"Kururugi Suzaku." Though the caller would not be able to see it, his eyes widen, in fear and in surprise. Who in the living world knew that he was still alive? Did someone found out? But he was always careful only to remove his mask when he was sure he was completely alone in his room. His mind was scrambling a way to cover his secret. It would be troublesome if the world know that he was not dead. It might even throw the world into chaos again. His swift hand gripped the gun in his jacket. Yet, somehow, the feminine voice seemed to ring a bell in his head. His eyes rolled from side to side but he still could not see any figure.

"Up here." He lifted his head slowly to look at the trees. Shaded by the thick canopy of leaves, a black shadow that did not belong to the trees caught his attention. After focusing for another few more seconds, the dim moonlight that shone through the leaves glimpsed momentarily on the figure. He saw a color that made everything clear. A light green color.

"C.C." He muttered as he acknowledged the lady sitting on a tree branch, swinging her legs like a small kid. Now, clearer than before as his vision adapted to the dark, he saw that the woman was wearing her weird clothing but it was no longer white in color that was in his memory. It was black, camouflaging her perfectly in the dark. However, her green hair and gold eyes gleamed brightly even after the fleeting light moment from the moon had passed.

"Here." She threw something at his face. Using his magnificent reflex, he caught it before the thing hit him. He stared at the item he held in his palm. It was a small rectangular data pen. He blinked silently in confusion.

"He asked me to give it to you." She explained softly. Another minute of silence passed. When he looked up at the lady again, she was gone.

"Wait! C.C.!" He shouted without thinking. The leaves rustled a little, causing a few frightened birds to fly out of another nearby tree. She stood elegantly on the thick tree branch, looking down at him emotionlessly.

"What?" The lady they called witch asked in a rather annoyed tone. He searched for the words but none came to his mind and mouth. Why did he stop her? What is it that he wanted to ask her about?

"If you have nothing to say, I'll be going." She stated flatly. He sighed in defeat. Dropping his gaze to the ground, he listened for another rustle or some sort of noise that would signal her departure but none came into his well-trained ears. When he looked up, he was rather surprised to see her dark figure still there. She was gazing at the moon. A lonely profile glimpsed through her golden orbs.

"I'll tell you something he probably conveniently forgot to tell you. He didn't mean to put that Geass on your princess. The Geass became uncontrollable, and he didn't know that. He agonized over it for some time." He looked at her. Why was she telling him all these now? He was already suffering from the guilt that he betrayed Lelouch and took his life. His heart was already torn apart because he could not be with the one he love. So, why? To torment him further?

"Just so you would not hate him any more than you had. I could tell that you are extremely important to him. That's all." She answered his monologue. With a small nod, she jumped nimbly and quietly like a cat from a tree to another. He looked at her blankly. As his emperor had once told him, this lady is weird, dangerous and mysterious. He clenched the data pen in his hand and hurried back.

……**.**

After ensuring the empress was completely safe, he retired into his own compartments, locking the door securely behind him. He promptly removed his mask and cloak after he was sure that no one had sneaked into his room. He threw them aside; they were very much less important compared to the data pen he held in his hand. Switching on the computer, he chewed his lips and tapped the keyboard impatiently as the thing start up. After attaching the data pen to the appropriate place, he slipped on his headphones and clicked on the single file found inside the data pen. It was a video clip.

The screen turned black before showing a figure sitting on a huge bed. He recognized the scenery. It was _his_ chamber, _his_ bed. And there _he_ was, looking back at him from the screen, fully clad in pajamas. _He_ was slightly leaning forward, hands clasped together.

"Umm… Hello… Ze-" _He _paused and hesitated for a moment before continuing, "Suzaku…"

"Lelouch…" Unknowingly, he answered his emperor's call. Tears threatened to fall once again from his already puffy eyes. His fingers reached towards the screen to touch the face of the former prince but he could not feel the soft, warm texture of _his_ skin. All he could feel was the smoothness of the computer screen. It was hard and cold.

"Erhem…" The man in the screen cleared _his_ throat. _His_ amethyst eyes were confused and lost. He continued to stare dumbly at _him_ who was clearly considering what was best to be said. This was the first time he saw Lelouch speechless and unsure of _himself_. _He_ had always been able to think and act quickly but somehow, _he_ took a rather long time before _he_ talked again.

"Well, how are you?" His king asked softly. He bit his lips to hold back his tears.

'_How am I? You are asking how I am?! You should know better than anyone! I'm in pieces because of you! I have to carry the guilt of killing my best friend everywhere I go!!'_ He angrily replied in his heart. Clear liquid flowed down his cheeks. In his heart, his conscious silently corrected him. '_Lover… Not best friend.'_

"I'm sorry… It must have been really insensitive of me to ask that," the emperor said. He looked at the monitor, dumbfounded. He should have realized that _he _was predicting his reaction. He had used the same technique when he brought his own brother to his defeat. And what's more, _he_ knew him inside out, perhaps even better than himself.

"I'm really very sorry, Suzaku… I hope the world is a better place without me. It was for the best." Lelouch continued gravely. He kept his mouth clamped but he could not stop his heart from replying.

'_Why must you always think of others? Why must you shoulder this burden? Why can't someone else die instead? Why did you have to leave me alone?'_ As he thought those questions, tears trailed down like a river from his emerald eyes.

"I don't know… I don't even know why I'm leaving this video for you. It already had been so hard for you… Sorry…" The former prince's apologetic look made him wanted to yell at _him_ but at the same time, it made him want to forgive _him_.

"How is Nunnally?" The person in the video questioned simply.

'_She's fine.'_ He answered robotically in his mind. He knew that Lelouch was just asking because _he_ wanted to change the subject. The king already knew that _his_ sister would be fine. _He_ had ensured that the world was a place where Nunnally would be perfectly safe. _He_ had given his life for that.

"I would not tell you how Euphie is… I don't think I'm in the same place as her. A person like me would not be accepted into Heaven, you know… " There was a small smile playing on the amethyst eyed boy's lips.

'_I didn't even think about that!'_ He protested strongly. The smile on Lelouch's face grew wider as _he_ foretold his reaction.

"It's not that I'm jealous or anything…" The king muttered quietly, a slight pinkish hue forming on _his_ cheeks that told him _his_ feelings was different from what _he_ denied. _His_ clasped hands were twitching slightly and _he_ averted his eyes from the camera. After a minute of silence, _he_ finally gathered back his courage to look at the camera again. _His_ amethyst eyes stared directly at his through the screen. The young ruler had a serious look, somber as well, on his face. _He_ inhaled deeply.

"I'm going to ask one more selfish request before I go. One that would probably throw you into rage or perhaps tears." _He_ stopped there for another minute. His eyes could not help going round and wide. He could loudly hear in his mind what his beloved was going to say even when _he_ had not uttered a single word.

'_No! No! NO! NEVER!'_ His heart and mind were already screaming. His dried lips parted but just a soft 'no' came out of them. Clear, crystal droplets fell down his cheeks.

"I want you to delete this file, destroy the data pen and finally, erase my existence from your mind. Forget about me. Forget every single thing about Lelouch Lamperouge, about Lelouch vi Britannia and about the Demon Emperor." If _he_ could predict his actions precisely, which _he_ certainly can, _he_ was very obviously trying not to think about it. _He_ was imagining that _his_ knight would accept this with serene calmness.

"Forget everything about me, Suzaku. Though you might never really obtain happiness as Zero, a curse I've laid on you, I want you to at least let go of the guilt. I would never did blame you for killing me for it was my way of repenting my sins, though it would never suffice. I am not ordering you. I'm asking you," he paused, "Please…"

He was speechless, tears coursing down his emerald orbs. He shook his head in denial, unable to say anything. The quiet sobs came heavier and heavier until he was crying his heart out.

"Why?! Why m-must you d-do this t-to m-me?! WHY?!!" He yelled, choking on his tears occasionally, at the person in the computer. He slammed his fist on the table.

"Please don't cry and listen. I want to tell you something before I really stop." The former prince smiled gently. _He_ had correctly predicted that _his_ childhood friend would cry, though _he, _in reality would not know.

"I really want thank you for being my first friend in Japan. I really want to express my gratitude that you protected Nunnally, back then and now. I want to thank you for holding me in your arms that night when I had the nightmare…" The young ruler trailed off as if _he_ was remembering the memory.

He could remember it clearly as well. It was the very night Lelouch had first slept in that small, foreign room in the Kururugi shrine. He, frustrated at the two strangers who had taken up his space, had crept back to the room when the moon hung high in the sky, planning to fright them or do something. Something that would move them out of there. As he was pondering on whether to act as a ghost or make some weird animal's sound, the young prince came bursting out of the room, running directly towards him. The boy with midnight black hair was charging without looking where he was heading and he himself was too stunned and surprised to move out of the way, so they collided and fell onto the hard ground.

"What are you doing?!" He had exclaimed angrily at the boy who was looking at him with vulnerable purple eyes. He could not get up because the boy was on top of him and he did not seemed to have any intention of moving.

"What?" He asked, less harshly when the boy continued to stare at him. Only then did he realize that the boy was trembling, fear filling his round amethyst orbs. Unknowingly of what he was doing, he put an arm around the boy's slender body and hugged him softly. When he felt the thin lad's body vibration calmed down slightly, he placed another hand on his head and patted it. Finally, the stranger's body relaxed fully. He inched away a little to see that the boy was fast asleep, with tears trailing down from his closed eyes.

"And what I really want to say is…" He was dragged out of his memory when the boy, grown up and displayed on the screen, spoke. The amethyst orbs flickered from side to side hesitantly.

"I love you!" The emperor blurted out. _His_ face was tomato red and when _he_ dropped his head in embarrassment, he could see that _his_ ears were tainted pink as well. His heart pounded painfully, the tears from before continued flowing slowly.

"More than just friends. More than anything. More than my own life." _He_ muttered quietly, "Since you embraced me in your warm arms that day. That was why I couldn't let you die. I placed the 'live on' Geass on you. If you had died, I don't think I could live as well."

'_And what about me? You knew I could live even without you?' _He questioned.

"You can. You will. You're strong. Many times stronger than I'll ever be, physically and mentally. My only regret is that I could never tell you how I really feel about you face-to-face." _He_ replied solemnly. _He_ reached _his_ hand towards the camera, as if trying to go through the screen and touch him but that was something impossible.

"Remember, erase the file and forget everything about Lelouch. Live well, Suzaku. Thank you for loving me, even if only as a friend." The screen turned black five seconds after. He let out a whimper of distress when his dear king vanished from his sight.

'_How am I suppose to forget about you?! How could I erase your existence so easily?! And after when you had told me you loved me?! After everything you had said?!'_ He fell onto his folded arms on the table and cried hard all night long. His howls echoed melancholically throughout the whole area around his compartment. His fingers, curled up into fist, dug into his palm until they bleed.

"I love you! I love you! I LOVE YOU! I love you more than as a friend too! I wanted to say it to your face as well. I want you to hear me! Whatever that happened in the tomb did not count! Damn it! You don't fight fair, Lelouch!"

'_God, is this my punishment? Unable to be with him… To be with the one I truly love…'_

……**.**

**That's it! Another angst-filled ONE SHOT! How did you like it? Comment and review please! **

**I have another LuluXSuzaku story in mind if you want more. Though I still have to complete my other works before starting another series. Hahaha… I'll get it ready while I complete my other stories so if you are really interested, let me know. Oh, by the way, it is also sort of filled with angst but there will be more romance in it. Encouragement helps a lot! ^_^**

**Twilight Cherry**


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